Clear Mind, Burning Soul
by Snizer
Summary: 5D's anime AU where Jack Atlas and Yuusei Fudou are actually in love. Following the original storyline of 5D's anime, certain scenes - both in and off screen - are rewritten as if they were romantically attached to each other. More information inside! Kingcrabshipping (Jack Atlas x Yuusei Fudou), side pairings will appear. The rating may go up sooner or later.
1. Now I Know

Is this a parody fic or one of those "what if" AU fics? I'm not sure how I should categorise this but I had to get this out of my head, namely how would certain scenes from 5D's anime (and off-screen) seem if Jack and Yuusei were, in fact, romantically devoted to each other. Such a sweet thought... *sighs*

Kingcrabshipping, other shippings will appear on the side, mainly revolving around Jack and Yuusei. Mature themes shall be seen but mostly T rated stuff. I will raise the rating as sexual themes appear.

Please enjoy - I know I'm going to enjoy this myself, maybe a bit too much. :''''D

* * *

1\. Now I know

Jack was definitely the most badass kid in the orphanage, and not only was he incredibly strong and determined (to the degree of being unbelievably thick-headed, admittedly), he also was good at playing Duel Monsters. Every day with Jack was an adventure, every day was worth waiting for when they went to sleep, Martha herself pushing them into their rooms when it was getting too late. Waking up next to Jack's bed was always just as fun, especially in those mornings when Yuusei was the first to worm out of his bed and got a chance to gently push on his shoulder - whereas the blond boy usually greeted 'good morning' by slamming a pillow on his head. Either way was fine: Yuusei spend the entire day with Jack, and usually Crow accompanied them if he wasn't playing with the younger children. Nonetheless, it was always him and Jack at least - and it was the best way Yuusei knew it.

Oh, how the time flew! Yuusei had known Jack as long as he could remember, and together they grew up, learning to read, write and calculate (all of those being helped by their favourite trading card game), passing the prepuberty and reaching the noisy, violent years of teenage (Jack got taller at such an alarming rate it made Martha both amused and irritated at how quickly Jack's clothes got too small for him).  
It was around the age of 11 when Yuusei first experienced the feelings of wanting Jack's attention more than ever before, 13 when he first masturbated (more like touched himself lightly, embarrassed and squirming helplessly in the bathroom), and, when it was time for him, Jack and Crow to leave the orphanage as they saw it was best for them to go live on their own when they were 15, Yuusei knew what all those little tingling sensations in his stomach and groin meant and was utterly terrified of it. He liked Jack, very much - of course he had always admired him... But now, a completely different meaning made itself clear in Yuusei's bright head.

Just how embarrassing it was to admit it to himself while having both Jack and Crow around...! The copper-haired friend would be totally taken aback - "Why him, why Jack?! He's an idiot, no matter how much of a duel genius he is because, _wow_, he's an idiot!" - and, well, he wasn't entirely sure of Jack's possible reaction which made him feel even more insecure. _'Better stay quiet,'_ Yuusei told to himself as the three of them found themselves trying to find a good place to spend their night in.

Finally, they settled into one of the many abandoned factory buildings near the shore, each of them taking an own room to inhabit and sleep in. Yuusei, too, crawled into one corner of the room after finding a tattered, thin blanket to cover himself with. It wasn't much of a protection from the chilly air but he didn't complain. He never complained, after all. Closing his eyes he relaxed, let out a deep breath and snuggled as close to the wall he could, curling up into as tiny ball as possible. Somewhere outside something was broken loudly and distant yells were heard. He hoped he could get some rest before the sun rises.

He listened to his own breathing for a good while until his senses suddenly got sharper: he could swear he heard someone on the other side of the room's door. And indeed, soon he heard the door handle being lowered and the door pulled open with a quiet creak. Immediately Yuusei turned to look who had come in -  
Even in the room's dimness Yuusei could tell it was Jack. The blond closed the door behind him and quietly walked closer to his dark-haired friend.

"Yuusei?"

"Jack?"

"Oh, you're awake... Good."

"Didn't you get any sleep?"

"In a cold and dirty place like this? I couldn't get any sleep in a million years," the taller boy grumbled. "Figured it would be more comfortable here."

"...what about Crow?"

"The birdbrain's probably with the other birds on the roof. Birds of a feather..."

"I wish he's okay, I heard someone shouting outside just a while ago..."

"Yeah, yeah," Jack mumbled, getting down on his knees and settling himself to lie down next to the other boy. Yuusei turned to his other side so he was face to face with Jack and spread his blanket open, throwing it partly on Jack who nodded - his way of saying "thank you". The blond moved closer, and it was impossible for Yuusei to ignore how Jack's broad body emanated pleasant heat onto him. It then occured to him that the other guy hadn't been physically this close to him in years: back then when they still had pillow fights and bed wrestling together they were only children, and now when they were older, Yuusei did feel a difference having Jack this close to him. Wanting to avoid silence between them, Yuusei whispered,

"We will be okay, right?"

"Absolutely. As long as we have our decks and duel disks."

"We haven't gotten into duels yet..."

"But the time will come soon... Maybe tomorrow even."

"Uh huh." They both breathed calmly for a while, then Yuusei opened his mouth again. "Aren't you nervous?"

"Not at all," was the immediate answer. "We already talked about this months ago, it was time for us to leave, it was getting too cramped at Martha's place and we're old enough to take care of ourselves. I don't know about you and Crow but I won't let anyone step over me - I will crush them all before they know what hit them." Yuusei couldn't see Jack's face but deducing from Jack's low voice and its heavy tone of determination he knew that Jack was having one of those familiar expressions on his face: frowning, his eyes narrow and the corners of his lips curved downwards. Same Jack as ever. Yuusei smiled, happy to know Jack couldn't see it.

"Yes, you will," he said in a calm voice.

"You just wait and see. None of them will get from the hands of me, Jack Atlas, before I'm done with them."

"That's right." Yes, always the same...

"I will protect you, always, anywhere..."

"Huh?"

"Because you... You are too kind sometimes." The smile dropped off from Yuusei's face and he frowned, facing to the direction where he knew Jack's face was.

"I can fight too."

"Yes, you can... But now it's a little different, Yuusei..."

"But with you and Crow... I will do anything to keep you two safe." Jack didn't reply instantly but took a few seconds to collect his thoughts before answering.

"Stay close to me. I'm not letting you wander off somewhere just like that. We're not children anymore."

"...Jack?"

"...I will crush them all for you if I have to." Yuusei's breathe got stuck into his throat. He heard Jack's voice tremble just now, he definitely did... What was it? What did that voice and those words mean?

"Jack... I'm never leaving you." This time, Yuusei's heard and felt his own words shaking. It made him feel slightly anxious, he had no idea what he was getting so nervous about, they were just talking -

Talking, discussing about their feelings. Yuusei wanted to let it all out at once, now when they finally were alone, just the two of them. He breathed in and said quietly, "I promise, I will always follow you wherever you go - just wait for me."

He felt a lot lighter when he got those words out, as if he had kept them in his head for God knows how long... Funnily enough, he realised, there was a chance that was exactly the case. So much to say to Jack but no right time, place or mood had ever come for him to actually say any of those things. But now they were there...

"..."

Yuusei wondered why Jack stayed silent. Did he fall asleep? Did he hear any of -

"Yuusei." What a relief... Or was it?

"Yes, Jack?"

"I'm..." The black-haired boy shivered. Was he angry, or utterly confused by Yuusei's promise? Or did he finally see through him with those beautiful, light lilac eyes of his even without seeing him...?

A hand grabbed gently on Yuusei's chin, a warm breath brushed against his face and something new, pleasant, _fanta__stic_ touched his lips.

* * *

*heavy sigh* DONE!

That's it, that's the first chapter. More like a prologue, was it? I wanted to leave the end kind of vague just to tease you readers but I can fairly say that whatever happened just now wasn't followed by any sexy activities. (I'm just as disappointed as some of you might be but it's actually essential for the future chapters that nothing more serious happens between Jakku and You-Say just yet!)

As you can probably see, I'm still having a LOT of problems with writing in English. Any tips and hints are greatly appreciated (make it simple so I don't missunderstand anything ahaha)! Also, wow, my first multi-chap story... _NO I'M NOT NERVOUS AT ALL_


	2. Further?

About time I updated... This chapter has been done for a while already but I didn't have the heart to submit it just yet, as I feel anxious to write more. Oh well, here it is now. It was fun writing this chapter. I appreciate much drama. :''D

* * *

2\. Further?

In the morning, Yuusei felt something wrapped loosely around his upper body, surrounding him with a comfortable warmth and a pleasant, familiar scent. When he lazily opened his eyes, Yuusei saw another body next to him, their chest moving slowly as the person breathed, still sleeping deeply while having his arms around Yuusei's shoulders. The boy looked up to see the person's face and was satisfied to see it was Jack.

_It wasn't a dream after all._

Yuusei felt his cheeks become a lot warmer all of a sudden, and he smiled, staring at the blond affectionately. He gently pushed on Jack's shoulder, and soon the other young man was awake too. He blinked, eyed Yuusei for a while, and as if it was completely natural, they kissed quickly, only their lips touching briefly. That was their second kiss, the first had taken place just a few hours earlier before they had fallen asleep, hugging each other tightly, almost like clinging onto each other for their lives. They got up after that, not many words were exchanged when they picked up their duel disks with them and went to look for Crow.

All three of them went to explore the further areas, staying together the entire time, and Jack and Yuusei didn't even try to get separated from their friend or speak with each other outside of Crow's hearing range.

Days went by, and it seemed like neither of the two even remembered what had happened when Crow hadn't been watching them.

Groups of duelists, most of them older than them, were on their trails. Unknown men with duel disks attached on their wrists were hungry for victory, eager to beat them up in heated duels. "What are we going to do? We don't know have many gangs there are, they keep appearing when we least expect it," Crow panted when they got safe inside another building. Jack and Yuusei agreed. They hadn't been fully prepared for this. They needed help and guidance...

What a miracle it was when one young duelist didn't want to challenge them but insisted on joining them, wanting to make a team of four. He was about the same age as them and, as they witnessed afterwards, a talented duelist with a unique deck and determination hard, unbreakable as steel.

He was Kyosuke Kiryu, the founder of Team Satisfaction as they became known soon all over the Satellite.

* * *

Weeks turned into months, and soon Kiryu was inseparable part of them. Thanks to him, the three other boys, Crow, Jack and Yuusei, now knew their goal and how to achieve it, as they hadn't really had one before the tall, silver-haired boy came to them.

"Because we're stuck in Satellite, we have to be able to do something big while being here: I say, we get over the whole Satellite, become the number one duelist group anyone has ever seen!"

To that, they gladly complied. Now that they had an actual reason to fight against the other duelists, time elapsed at a quicker pace, there was no moment of hesitation when they got face to face with other duel gangs, most of them older and physically bigger than them. But they didn't suffer any defeats. Together, they practised dueling, then went out to challenge everyone who came to their sight, not letting them escape before they had reached the outcome in their duels: a crafty idea by Kiryu, finally put into effect by Yuusei (who took the liberty to fix and tune their duel disks when they got back into their headquarters), a pair of handcuffs installed in them so they could link their opponents by their own duel disks, the loser's piece of equipment exploding when their lifepoints hit zero.

They became a strong, feared group of duelists within weeks. True, they still didn't have a proper, warm place for them to stay in, and they often had troubles getting required amount of nourishment, but they fared just well - because they were together, all four of them, Team Satisfaction.

Kiryu being with them, they had gotten familiar with alcohol too. In the orphanage, Martha had never let them taste it and all three boys had been scared to ever even try getting their hands in any intoxicating drinks but now it was part of their life to drink whenever they got enough to share, getting drunk together and staying up until the next morning's sun was peeking behind the skyline. It was all to celebrate their strength, their victories and power as a team.

This was one of those nights. The teens were sitting in a circle, Crow and Jack occupying two chairs while Yuusei and Kiryu shared a dirty couch, a little round table on the centre and several beer bottles and cans, both empty and full, on it. After hours of talking, yelling, laughing and awkward singing (mostly by Kiryu), they soon became quiet, Crow looking through his deck's cards, Jack sitting silently and sipping on his beer while after a while, Kiryu babbling about their duels and what was waiting for them in the future and Yuusei leaning his arms on his knees, swaying a little - it was clear that he was almost ready to go sleep.

Suddenly, Kiryu stopped talking and looked at the dark-haired boy next to him. He smiled.

"You haven't even drank that much, Yuusei." Jack looked from the side of his vision Yuusei shaking his head weakly.

"...I don't like the taste," the boy mumbled.

"Haha, I thought so. It's okay." Kiryu's hand moved behind Yuusei's back and pulled the boy closer to him by his bare shoulder. Jack saw Yuusei's eyes open a little when his head leaned against the other boy's chest. Kiryu chuckled quietly. "You are really cute when you're drunk."

Jack's eyes widened but Crow was the first person to comment.

"Ugh, Yuusei's a guy, Kiryu."

"Still cute," Kiryu said simply and pressed his face on Yuusei's thick hair. Jack felt a bit uncomfortable seeing how Yuusei's eyes got open wide in a polite surprise: something was telling him that Kiryu had just kissed the top of the boy's head.

"Ugh," Crow grunted again. "That's it, I'm done for tonight... I'm out! Good night, guys!" he said as he put his cards back into his jeans' pocket, stood up and left the room while staggering dangerously by every step he took.

It was only Jack, Yuusei and Kiryu in the room. Jack turned his gaze from the door to the two other boys. Kiryu was nuzzling his face against Yuusei's hair while Yuusei held onto Kiryu's shoulder, his eyes searching for Jack and looking at him, almost helplessly as his cheeks glowed in an adorable colour of red.

"Jack..."

"Jack," Kiryu said, getting the blond's attention. "You are an honest man. You see this boy here?" He grabbed Yuusei's chin and turned his face to look directly at Jack, making sure he saw the boy's face perfectly. "You know what I think, right? He is adorable, isn't he?"

It was the first time in a long moment when Jack finally moved on his chair, startling visibly as he looked from Kiryu to Yuusei and back to their leader. "W-what?"

"Yuusei is adorable, and very cute. Don't you think so too?"

"...I..."

"I know you do. Yuusei is fucking sexy."

Jack's breath got stuck in his throat, momentarily he couldn't breathe or hear anything: the face of Yuusei's blushing, confused face, then Kiryu's demanding, knowing stare and his cruel, merciless smile.

Not only had it come more and more difficult for Jack to ignore the memory of wanting to be close to Yuusei and claim him to be his but Kiryu, the leader of the group, had become way too touchy-feely with the boy. Jack tried to hide it because, oh no, he couldn't say any of his thoughts out loud - _"Yuusei is mine, there's something you don't know about us!"_ \- but he was afraid it had already gone too far. Did Kiryu see through him? Or was he only playing with Jack? Nevertheless, Jack was sure that he wasn't the only one who had special feelings towards Yuusei.

Jack should have been quicker. Now Kiryu was after Yuusei too - and all this time Jack had pretended not to have anything more intimate or personal going on with Yuusei. He couldn't break the facade now either.

Jack shook his head and got up from the chair.

"I'm going to bed now. See you guys later." Everything around him seemed fuzzy, he tottered out of the room into the dimness, turning to walk to his own room. It felt like his head was full of air (he hoped hangover wouldn't gnaw at him later on), he already felt like throwing up... albeit for entirely different reasons than alcohol.

_Damn Kiryu!_

Was he going to win? Jack wanted to win... But had he left the wrong cards in his hand?

* * *

Yuusei had curled up on top of a pile of blankets, it was past midnight and he needed rest for the next day. Still, he couldn't close his eyes.

Crow and Jack had left: now it was only Kiryu and him.

Yuusei bit down onto his lower lip. So weird... knowing that they weren't anywhere near...

The door opened, Yuusei ignored it. His body felt numb, yet something bubbled in his stomach, almost if he was about to throw up.

"Yuusei..."

"..."

"I found more blankets for us." Indeed, just a half second later something fell on top of Yuusei. He grabbed it and pulled it over his body more properly, still not turning to look at the other boy. "More for us now when those two are gone."

"..." Yuusei swallowed quietly. Kiryu settled next to him, his legs poking his own lightly.

"Don't worry, Yuusei. We'll be fine, we're strong even if it's just the two of us. Jack and Crow just don't know any better."

"...huh," Yuusei breathed.

"Really, Yuusei, no worries." To Yuusei's surprise, a hand pushed under his arm and pulled him against Kiryu's chest while the silver-head's face nuzzled his hair. Yuusei blinked - this sure was an oddly familiar feeling... "I am here, after all." And Yuusei remembered. This had already happened once, a while ago... in Jack's presence. Yuusei had been bemused by their team's leader's sudden touches, and incredibly embarrassed because it had been Jack who witnessed it. Now it was happening again: did it feel any different to him now?

No, he still wasn't sure how he felt about this kind of closeness...

"Yuusei... I'm here. Together, we will win." _Win what, exactly?_ The entire island was theirs, they had conquered each district of Satellite back when Jack and Crow were still part of the group. Now there was nothing... "You will stay with me, right?"

Only then did Yuusei stretch his neck to turn and look at Kiryu. His gaze caught a sight of a pair of golden eyes which stared at him intensively. Mercilessly demanding stare.

Yuusei had no clue if he was going to win anything by this... but he simply didn't have any cards left in his hand.

"I will stay with you, Kiryu - I promise."

"I knew it," Kiryu mumbled, obviously content. "You... You are very cute."

"...Kiryu...?"

"Very adorable," the boy added, then planted a kiss on Yuusei's forehead. The boy gasped.

"Ki-Kiryu!"

"Yuusei..." Now he aimed lower, moving his lips to Yuusei's mouth: Yuusei gasped again and tried to lean away from him - but he was pulled to face Kiryu instead as the other boy yanked him around by his shoulder. Yuusei blinked his eyes rapidly, not knowing what this all meant, and yearning for an explanation he asked,

"Kiryu, what is the meaning of this? Please tell me..."

"You'll stay here with me, you promised it, right?"

"Yes, yes I did..."

"And you didn't lie."

"No! I'll never lie to you, Kiryu! I'm now with you, no matter what happens! I won't leave you..."

No turning back.

"Right... I trust you."

"Thank you, Kiryu."

"...kiss me."

"W-what?"

"Just... do it..."

Kiryu needed him, he really did, and for now Yuusei was all he had. Their lips touched, shared a pleasant feel of moist warmth, opened and Kiryu's tongue slid between Yuusei's lips into his mouth. He took a sharp breath in as their tongues touched but allowed Kiryu to explore further, tasting Yuusei deeper and more carefully than anyone had ever in his life, Kiryu sucked on Yuusei's tongue and the boy uttered out weak noises. They kissed hard, harder, and Kiryu's other hand found its way under Yuusei's pants. Everything happened so fast, and soon the inevitable happened.

He made love to Kyosuke Kiryu - yes, he fell in love with him. He called it "love". It was a word he rarely used but he was sure this was the nearest thing to the concept: emotionally and physically strong, not clearly explicable but it existed both for Kiryu and him.

And still the memory of his first kiss with Jack Atlas didn't leave his mind.

* * *

...wow... Okay... No other comments about this chapter, other than I was unsure if I should describe the union of Team Satisfaction in more detail (really, I truly love those four together!) but I decided against it. I'm still kind of sad how the team's history was left so vague in the anime (I understand why they did that buuuut-), I would have loved to see more of how they met etc. Uwu''

Oh well. Much drama - such flirting - wow. Everyone loves Yuusei. I always think of him as a character anyone could easily get infatuated with. (Yuusei losing his virginity to Kiryu is one of the most common headcanons in the 5D's fandom - it's very tragic and sad, considering what they went through together.)


	3. Choose Me Or---!

After way too long, I'm updating again. The first two chapters were easy to write but I really should rewatch the entire 5D's anime to refresh my memory and get more ideas for the upcoming chapters. Uh-oh, already in trouble, are we? N-NOT AT ALL! *sweats nervously*

More drama in this chapter. It breaks my heart but I really love to write it. Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! has taught me to tolerate all kinds of emotional pain... *shot*

* * *

3\. Choose Me Or...!

Crow left to take care of a bunch of younger children, while Jack and Yuusei got into good terms with a group of other Satellite residents and made themselves home at their hideout in a part of empty sewers. Not that they spent a lot time here: Jack was the type to wander off by himself, doing whatever he did, whereas Yuusei had apparently adopted the same habit right after the final break-up of Team Satisfaction.

One evening, once again, Jack found himself walking on by the coast. The location opened a clear view to the city which loomed in the distance, its buildings reaching up to the sky and the lights glimmering every night. Often he would come to admire the nightly sight when it was quiet and his mind full of thoughts - but now his eyes caught a familiar figure sitting on top of a pile of trash, looking at the direction of the opposite coast.

Jack walked closer to the junk mountain, his coat flailing behind him as the wind from the sea blew past him.

"Yuusei!"

The other didn't seem to hear him, as not the slightest reaction was shown. Yuusei sat still, deep in his thoughts, and Jack looked at him. Should he try again?

"..."

Somehow Jack had a feeling it wasn't the right time to disturb the boy. Yuusei didn't look any different, he was wearing his blue jacket, the same pair of boots, even the yellow highlights on his hair were as bright as always. Yuusei was the quiet type but it wasn't in his nature to ignore anyone on purpose. Yuusei was clearly thinking about something important.

...Jack believed he had a pretty good idea what it was about. It had already been two months since Kiryu was sent to the prison and the information of his death reached their ears. Jack remembered hardly anything of the night when they all stood in the rain, police officers bustling everywhere around them, the lights of their cars and motorcycles blinding in the thick darkness. But one thing had been burned into his memory, and it made him feel uncomfortably hot inside: the mixed feelings of anger, jealousy and disgust scorching his innards.

Rain drops hid the tears as Yuusei's voice shouted Kiryu's name.

Jack had sharper mind than many gave him credit for.

He knew Yuusei was thinking of Kiryu.

* * *

It had been a long day for Yuusei. After spending the entire morning going through the junkyard nearest their hideout, he returned to the underground home carrying filthy, rusty parts of machinery and a handful of nuts and bolts. After that, he devoted the rest of the day to building a frame of a motorcycle. That's right: he had moved from fixing his and Jack's duel disks to a bit larger, more time-consuming project.

Such a far-fetched dream, someone could have said to him - but, once again, he had a goal, a reason to carry on and wake up in the morning for. And thanks to that, he had something else to think about...

He kept on working until he could barely keep his eyes open. Carefully he pulled a cover over his work and tottered to a little, not so comfortable bed which was right next to his worktable and hidden behind a dirty curtain, permitting him some kind of privacy. He had no idea where Jack spent the nights but believed he was just fine - the blond wouldn't bother telling him anyway, of that he was quite certain. Without much thought he plopped on the mattress and curled up, pulling a thin blanket over him. It didn't take too long until Yuusei was breathing heavily, tired from all the work and pleased to get some rest again, sleeping silently.

Without him noticing, a tall figure moved outside, then entered Yuusei's little room. The curtain was pushed open and the dim light of the moon fell on Yuusei's face. The boy inhaled sharply in his sleep but didn't wake up. The person standing next to him gave his shoulder a shove.

"Yuusei? Yuusei!"

"..."

"Yuusei, I'm here."

"...mm..." A weak shake of the head, eyes opening slightly and trying to focus on the intruder.

"...Ja-...?"

"Yes, it's me," Jack murmured. Yuusei blinked slowly.

"...where have you been...?"

"Walking around... Nothing big. Dueled a couple of guys. And then came here." And in two seconds, Jack's body dropped next to Yuusei's and the curtain was pulled shut again. It was quite dark then but Yuusei could see the outlines of Jack's face. He had a weird sensation of déjà vu...

"...Jack..."

"Yeah?"

"...you remember..."

"Huh?"

"It was like this that time, too." Yuusei's voice was quiet and hoarse but his mind was getting clearer: he recalled the moments from an abandoned building where he and Jack had slept together.

"...you... You remember?"

"I do," Yuusei whispered.

"Oh... oh." Jack's body stiffened beside him. "I thought - because it's been some time since then - that maybe you don't... It happened before any of this happened, after all..."

"..." Yuusei didn't say a word. He wished Jack wouldn't remind him of the loss of their friend.

"And now..." Yuusei perked his ears: the other boy's voice trembled just now. Only a little but, as observant as Yuusei was by nature, he did hear and notice it. "Now... It's the two of us again. Just us two."

"Us two - and Rally, Nerve, Taka and Blitz," Yuusei added.

"Yeah, yeah, they too..." Jack muttered. "You do know what I mean." Yuusei did. "Almost like we've gone back to the start... But it's not bad either." Slender fingers touched Yuusei's cheek - he stirred at the sudden warmth on his skin. Yes, definitely déjà vu... "We could carry on from where we left."

Yuusei blinked. Now he was almost completely awake.

"...from where we left...?"

"Do you remember what happened that night? When we slept together?"

"...how could I ever forget...?" Yuusei smiled fondly at the memory. "I would never have thought it would happen... between us."

"But it did," Jack murmured, "and I was hundred percent serious at that time."

"Ah..."

"You were too, right?"

Yuusei's cheeks felt suddenly much warmer.

"I would never lie to you, Jack..."

"I thought so too." Warm breath, rusting of the blanket and lips touching after so long. Yuusei leaned in to press his lips on Jack's, soon he opened his mouth, allowing Jack to push his tongue into Yuusei's mouth. The boy licked Jack's tongue eagerly, the blond responded just as avidly, soft sighs and little moist sounds emitting between their lips. Yuusei's hands held onto Jack's shoulders, and emboldened by Yuusei's quiet, cute noises, the blond moved on top of the other boy, his other hand on Yuusei's hair while the other shifted onto Yuusei's chest, massaging it carefully. Yuusei moaned between their heated kisses.

"O-oh... Jack..."

"You taste just as sweet as I remembered..." Jack gave Yuusei's tongue a quick suck and whispered against the boy's lips, "I have missed your taste, Yuusei..." His fingers rubbed against a tiny bulge on Yuusei's chest under his shirt, and the boy let out a louder moan.

"Hn...! Not there...!"

"What, the other one too?" Quicker than Yuusei expected, another hand appeared on his chest and a thumb flicked over Yuusei's untouched nipple: this produced another loud groan.

"Ah- haa! No...!"

"Wow, you're sensitive," Jack chuckled and rubbed his thumbs against Yuusei's tender parts on his chests. The shorter boy shook his head and kicked on Jack's legs.

"Too much...! K-Kiryu, don't...!"

Jack didn't - not anymore, after hearing a name that wasn't his.

The blond took his hands off from Yuusei whose body froze under him. The air around them felt thicker, the pressure rose. Jack couldn't see anything besides the mental images of a silver-haired young man cackling, _"Give me my satisfaction!"_

Jack had had his doubts about those two for a while - but whatever he had thought of them, it hadn't been anything like this.

"...so... It was Kiryu, then?"

Jack could hear Yuusei breathing.

"...Jack..."

"It was, wasn't it?"

"..." Yuusei's hands gripped tightly onto Jack's shoulders, he trembled, his voice hardly audible as he spoke, "Kiryu needed me, he wasn't acting like himself anymore... I had to be there, to help -"

"'Help'...? You let him fuck you."

"Jack!" Yuusei inhaled sharply.

"You let him fuck you, and you clearly enjoyed it."

"No, w-well... He was our frie-"

"No, Yuusei, he wasn't our friend!" Jack yelled, slapped Yuusei's hands away and rolled away from the bed, sliding through the curtain, ready to leave the place all at once. "He stopped being our friend the moment he realised there's nothing left for us! He knew it was over, yet he continued being the suicidal psycho he was...!"

"Stop it, Jack!" The blond was already at the doorframe when a hand caught his wrist and stopped him, pulling him back. Jack turned and saw Yuusei's face in the dim moonlight: furrowed brows, narrowed eyes, angrier than Jack remembered him being in the longest time.

"Yu-...?!"

"You don't know what it was like to him! I know, I understand why you and Crow wanted to leave! But I couldn't! I... just couldn't. Not him. I couldn't leave him."

They stood still, staring at each other, the wind howled quietly outside.

"..." After about ten seconds of silence, Jack's head slumped, he pulled his hand off from Yuusei's grip. "Alright then." He sighed. "You chose him... chose him over me. And now that he isn't here anymore... there isn't really anything I can do about it either."

"Jack, I'm really sorry."

"No, you aren't. You promised you'd follow _me_. Long before we met him. And now he's dead. Are you going to follow a dead man till the end?" Yuusei couldn't say anything. Jack didn't want him to say anything. "Go to sleep, Yuusei."

He turned, walked out, the sound of his silent steps swallowed by the painful pounding of Yuusei's aching, hurt heart.

* * *

Yuusei had immediately hopped on his motorbike and dashed out into the streets of the Satellite while Blitz, Nerve and Taka ran on foot to different directions, to search for Rally. Yuusei, not sure where to look for the younger boy first, was greatly puzzled as Jack contacted him via the monitor of Yuusei's D-Wheel's screen, telling he knew where Rally was. Yuusei didn't know what to think or expect: it had been Jack who had told them the young boy with red curly hair had been kidnapped, and now this... Nevertheless, because he had no other choice, he drove to the place Jack had mentioned, a dock which faced to the ocean. And there the blond stood, watching the waves, not moving a bit when Yuusei stopped right next to him and took his helmet off.

"Where's Rally?" Yuusei asked immediately and shot a demanding stare at Jack who didn't reply to his gaze - instead he pointed at the waves in front of them.

"Look there."

Yuusei looked. He didn't see it first, not knowing what exactly to look for, but then a little boat caught his attention. A boat... and someone sitting on it.

"Rally!" He shouted, frightened as he realised the boy had been tied up.

"At this rate," Jack said in his usual calm voice, "he will get swept up by the sea. And if he capsizes in this storm, he will definitely be done for."

"What is Rally even doing out there?!" Yuusei yelled while pointing his finger at the boat in the distance. He felt uneasy, Jack still didn't look at him: he feared something even more alarming and unexpected would occur soon.

"I'm going to tell you the truth..." Finally, Jack turned and looked back into Yuusei's enraged, dark eyes. His own pair of light amethysts looked even cooler, _colder_ than usual, Yuusei noticed. "I did it."

Yuusei would never have believed it if it had been anyone else but Jack telling him it. Jack was strong and most of the time very impulsive but never violent towards his friends, it didn't fit his character... And now there he stood right in front of him, confessing he had been the one to put their mutual friend into danger - and Yuusei knew he was telling the truth.

"Jack..." They stayed still, staring at each other, the shorter of the two unable to say anything else, the strong wind howled and Jack opened his mouth to speak again.

"I got an invitation from the city. My tickets to the city are my Red Demon's Dragon and your Stardust."

"What?!" Yuusei breathed weakly. Jack looked back to the sea and the vigorously rocking boat.

"There's also another option than collecting both cards and going to the city." He turned to his friend. "Which will it be? Will you stand here and watch as the boat disappears between the waves while we are settling things here?!" Yuusei clenched his teeth together. How did this happen...? Why had Jack's eyes changed so...? "Or maybe..." Fingers grabbed onto the front of Yuusei's shirt, he was pulled closer by Jack and, there and then, out of the blue, with no feeling or the warmth Yuusei had known a long time ago, Yuusei's lips were covered by Jack's own. Yuusei closed his eyes, whined quietly - it felt horrible... With a loud wet noise, Yuusei withdrew from the kiss and, looking angrily straight into Jack's eyes for the last time, he stripped off his jacket and dived into the cold water, determinedly swimming with strong strokes to save the little boy.

Jack watched after Yuusei for a short moment before he crouched and slid his hand beneath Yuusei's jacket: his fingers found a deck container and drew it out. Jack opened the lid and took the first card on top of the deck out. A quick glance, and he stuffed it into his jacket's pocket, dropped the deck container from his hands and walked over to the motorbike. In a few seconds, both the motorcycle and the blond boy were gone from the scene.

* * *

Later that day, when it was getting dark and the clouds floating in the sky blocked the moonlight almost completely, Yuusei jumped on his bed and kicked his boots off. He lay down on his other side, his body tired and aching, screaming for rest but his mind was full of thoughts and they didn't let him relax the tiniest bit. Jack was gone, and so was the D-Wheel he had just finished building, even his Stardust Dragon had disappeared... Jack had been the one to steal them, and somehow that thought alone made Yuusei feel like the dream was now history, meant to be buried and forgotten about.

How could he forget though? Too many things were still unfinished. Maybe Jack wasn't part of that dream anymore but he really wanted to hold on to it.

He had to get to the city - _with a D-Wheel_ \- and meet Jack.

Get Jack back.

...but would he ever come to him again after all this?

Jack had kissed him but that hadn't had any meaning to it - or was Yuusei wrong?

In about a week, in a tiny television Yuusei had managed to set up, a familiar blond boy stood surrounded by loud people, blinding lights and fanatic applauses.

"The King of D-Wheelers! Jack Atlas!"

"Jack! Jack! Jack! Jack! Jack!"

"I am the King! Watch me as I crush them all for you!"

Another sensation of déjà vu...

"As I promised... I will follow you. Just wait for me... Jack."

* * *

_Oh my Ra someone please hold me_

This was kind of hard chapter to write. Not because I didn't know what to write about exactly but I had to rewatch the 25th episode to hear the dialogue between Yus and Jakku before Jack stole the D-Wheel. Believe me, it was hard for me. Then again, I was glad to see how easily (umm?!'') I could throw that surprise kiss right in the middle of the scene.

Jack is my favourite character of all time but all my sympathies go for Yuusei. The guy has suffered a lot and probably never once whined about building _another_ D-Wheel just because the first one got stolen by his best friend. I MEAN, REALLY JACK? I KNOW WHY YOU DID THAT BUT I STILL THINK YOU'RE A HUGE DICK. (But I love you, you huge dick. Mwah mwah)


	4. Coming to You

I wrote TWO entirely different versions of this chapter. It was really hard and kind of frustrating, and I've come to the point where I actually have to rewatch certain episodes to hear the characters' actual dialogues and such. I love 5D's but watching certain episodes makes my heart break (maybe that's just the reason why I love it so much). I have also decided that I won't repeat all the goddamn details of the series in this story – too much trouble, and I'm only interested in writing the most ~exciting parts~ *shot *

No warnings this time. ...Huh, this originally had a masturbation scene? (OOPS)

* * *

4\. Coming to You

The rumbling of the D-Wheel was loud, it could have hurt Yuusei's ears pretty badly if it wasn't for his helmet covering them. The tunnel in which he was driving through echoed the whirring sound of the motorbike, and the screen attached to the bike in front of Yuusei told the driving speed increasing slowly but steadily, hitting the record numbers -

Until there was cough-like sounds, smoke, and Yuusei braked instantly. The vehicle stopped, and he looked at the source of the faint rising smoke. He stood up and lifted himself off of the motorbike, and took off his helmet. A short glance at the damaged engine, then he looked up to the faint rays of sunlight that shone through a crumbled hole in the pavement above the tunnel.

The sky was oddly clear that day.

Was it a sign that he was almost there?

* * *

The wheels of the bike creaked quietly as Yuusei pushed it along the tunnel, and soon he heard faint noises which sounded like a person - no, not just one, people, a crowd. A cheerful crowd? Yuusei reached his hideout and understood that the cheers emitted from a tiny, old television. He knew that three of his friends - Taka, Blitz and Nerve - were there watching it but didn't say a word when he pushed his bike in, to its own place next to a tiny table that held his laptop. A familiar voice boomed loud and clear from the TV.

_"If the King was serious from the beginnig, the duel would be over in an instant! Dueling must be entertainment for everybody!"_

There it was, one sentence hiding an enormous cruel lie. Why was Yuusei fighting by dueling, why did he have to worry for tomorrow and depend on his deck only to protect his life? This wasn't the kind of "entertainment" Jack had talked about. No moment in Yuusei's life had been much of an entertainment.

Now, for Jack, only the entertainment remained.

Because he was the King.

Yuusei's focus was back on his D-Wheel, and he gripped on the other handle, causing a loud roar to emit from the engine. The sound caught the three other men's attention.

"Oh, Yuusei!" The television was switched off immediately by the largest man in group, Taka. "Sorry about that. But this is the only place where the TV gets a connection."

"That duel sure was amazing," commented Blitz. "Jack seems to have gotten even stronger."

At that point, Yuusei was already connecting the wires from his computer to the D-Wheel's engines. He didn't turn around when he calmly asked, "The opponent wasn't tough, was he?"

"Yeah... Jack just played with him during the entire match."

First it seemed like Yuusei hadn't even listened to the reply. Then he quietly said, "I guess it wasn't that big of a deal, then..." After that, he stayed silent as he focused his mind back to his motorbike's engine. He did hear the other men talking to each other but it was all distant voices to him, certain words ringing into his ears clearer than others, especially Jack's name, and his own. He continued fixing the D-Wheel in silence, his eyes unreadable.

* * *

Living in Satellite forced one to accept the undying sensation of uncertainty and fear of if there will be tomorrow for you and your loved ones. Yuusei had adapted to it long ago, so escaping from the clutches of Security's helicopters and its officers was not an impossible task. He was, however, approached and trapped by one of Security's men, and as his only way to get out of the situation circulating him, one little part in his motorbike's machinery and the one who had stolen and brought it to him, one young boy called Rally, he had challenged the police officer Ushio to a duel, winning in the end and driving off to the coast after the heated Riding Duel.

The night had fallen over both Satellite and the city that gleamed far from the island. Yuusei stopped to look at the view to Neo Domino, the chilly night wind waving his hair and jacket's hem. Eyebrows furrowed, he stared at the city's blinding lights.

Soon, he'll find his way in to the middle of all that brightness – to the King.

"Just wait for me... Jack..."

The blond had no idea but Yuusei was already preparing to escape from Satellite. What about the time after, if, he succeeds? He had no idea, he only saw Jack in his future.

* * *

The red surface of Yuusei's D-Wheel shone brightly as he drove out from the shadows into the light reflected by the full moon, heading to the entrance which led to the city's coast where he could get a clear view to the island in the distance: he had managed to leave Satellite. He suddenly felt warmer, even though the air was freezing due to it being past midnight and the wind from the sea blowing: he knew whom he was about to see.

He drove into a more open area, he could hear the ocean on his other side while on his right stood a tall concrete wall.

And there, on top of the wall, looking down on him, was the young man whom he hadn't seen face to face in two whole years.

Yuusei stopped his motorbike and took his helmet off. His narrowed eyes looked up at the figure above him.

"Jack..."

It felt almost unreal. There was no way he could have mistaken the person, he recognised the blond hair and the tall, broad body clothed in a white, tight riding-suit he had seen many, many times on TV. Yet Yuusei felt like this Jack Atlas wasn't the same he had known months ago, the Jack he had lived with in Satellite.

And there Jack Atlas stood, smiling, tall and proud. He let out a low, loud chuckle.

"Long time no see... Yuusei."

Yuusei's eyes were on Jack, but no words came out of his mouth. Jack looked back at him for a short while until he closed his eyes, uttering out a low 'hmph' before he opened his eyes again to look over Yuusei, over the wall separating the concrete surface from the ocean, his stare focusing on the dim lights and distant shadow of Satellite, the floating island full of garbage, his old home, and the full moon above it.

"When I saw that moon, I had the feeling you're coming." It was weird, this mental connection between the two. It still remained? "How long has it been?" Yuusei didn't blink, nor moved the slightest.

"Two years."

"Two years... huh?" The blond young man sounded genuinely surprised. The time had flown without him noticing its pace. He looked back at Yuusei - and the motorbike under him.

"You've built quite a D-Wheel. That isn't surprising." Yuusei's expression hadn't changed at all, and it still didn't - but his voice had a hint old bitter coldness as he finally spoke again.

"You did ride off with the one I built back then."

A small, smug smile came back to Jack's lips, along with another 'hmph'.

"King never lets a chance slip by." As he said that, Jack was looking back at the night sky above them, the smile never fading. Not even when he said the thing Yuusei wouldn't have expected him to say... "I took my chance to get that kiss from you, too."

Not exactly visibly, Yuusei's eyes narrowed. It was difficult to notice for the lack of proper light but suddenly his cheeks had a tint of pink over them.

"Why did you take it? What happened to it?" Yuusei's voice was strong, demanding, just like the gaze in his eyes. Jack was quiet for a short moment until he lowered his stare back to Yuusei, asking loud and clear,

"The D-wheel or the kiss?"

"You know which," Yuusei growled. Jack took his time to consider how to reply, then he said almost painfully lightly,

"Obviously it broke a long time ago."

Wasted months, useless effort, forgotten work – Yuusei's hand gripped into a fist.

"And my card?" That he wouldn't be able to forgive-

"Stardust Dragon, right?" And soon, there it was, between Jack' slender fingers: Yuusei couldn't have mistaken about the card with the silvery background, the majestic creature, his old friend, in the centre. He still managed to maintain his stoic face, even though his voice did have a hint of sadness and the memory of the past as he continued speaking.

"That was part of our dream..." The blond young man lowered his hand, Yuusei's ace still resting in his hold.

"'Our'?"

"Us two... and our friends in Satellite." They both remembered but neither of them elaborated – it was too late for that as Jack said in a mocking tone,

"Are you still going on about that childish nonsense? Now that I'm the King, this card has no meaning to me!" Again, the blond young man lifted the arm that held Yuusei's ace and sent it through air to Yuusei, "You can have it back!"

Yuusei caught the card, then looked at it closely, silently, closing his eyes slowly. Jack stared at him.

"What's wrong? Put it back into your deck."

Jack obviously didn't expect to have the card thrown back to him but he did catch it back between his fingers, a perplexed look on his face. Yuusei left the seat of his D-Wheel and stood up, facing Jack.

"I'll win it back in a duel!" Yuusei's blue eyes held stern determination as he stared at Jack. "I'm sure you had the same thing in mind."

Jack smiled.

"Hmph. Fine then. ...This Riding Duel sure will be interesting!"

The stars above them were faintly twinkling in the night sky but the gleam in the two past friends' eyes sparkled in a way they hadn't in the longest time. Two souls were to clash in a duel which was to determine their future, in a way none of them had expected.

* * *

Loud noises, sirens screaming, lights nearly blinding him, he was surrounded by a group of Security officers - and somewhere behind them, in the middle of the brightness, stood Jack, holding his right arm, his helmet on and face hidden.

Yuusei was taken away. What exactly happened during the few hours after that, after a restless night and flashbacks of bright red light and an enormous, flaming creature hovering above him and Jack in the sky -

What had that been? What had caused it to appear? And this mark, the one which had gleamed in his right arm, only to appear a while after he had been captured... Jack had had one too.

_Jack. __You had a reason to leave Satellite and come here to Neo Domino City. I won't bring that up, it was your choice - no one would have been able to stop you. But this mark... And that monster... It all happened because we dueled, there is no other possible explanation. But what does this mean? Who can help us? Only we know about this... ... ...Jack, I need to see you again, as soon as possible...!_

* * *

_"I am the_ King_! You can't expect me to just forget about this duel! Where is he?! WHERE IS HE NOW?!"_

_"It is true that those who come from Satellite are kept isolated. He is no exception. He should be off in a detention centre around now..."_

_"I'm going to see him."_

_"No, you will not! Please take your position as King into consideration! Do you not want to learn of the meaning behind the People of the Stars and the Signers? Learn of who you_ truly_ are?"_

Jack remembered the conversation between him and Godwin crystal clear - however, everything else seemed much hazier to him.

He reached his deck on the table in front of him and drew the first card, placing it face up on the table. His ace monster, Red Demon's Dragon, greeted him with its flaming, majestic figure, yet it made no difference in Jack's sour expression on his face. He heard familiar foot steps approaching behind him.

"What is it?"

"I've received the data of your challenger for tomorrow's duel. It would be appreciated if you read through it."

"...how do I look now?" Jack's voice was low, not really quiet but still calmer than usually, yet it still held certain kind of bitterness to it, as if it hurt him to ask such a thing from Mikage, his personal manager. The woman began,

"Without a doubt, like the King of Duelists shou-"

"No!" Jack shouted, standing up from the couch, turning to look at the blue-haired woman who gasped in surprise. His fingers held his ace card tightly between them as he continued, "The tale of my undefeated record is over! I lost to him! _I am no King!_" Jack threw his card back on the table, glaring at it furiously. Mikage was clearly scared of this sudden outburst but said, trying to reassure the young man,

"No, I think you should be the King, Atlas-sama." The blond turned to look over his shoulder back at Mikage.

"'Should be'?" Jack turned to face her properly again before yelling, "You can't expect me to duel in that frame of mind!" The manager woman didn't move but even Jack could see how anxious she was to see him all restless and angry. That didn't make Jack much calmer though: he let out a frustrated grunt before he turned around and walked to the window wall. The crescent moon glowed high in the sky.

_'When I saw that moon, I had the feeling you're coming.'_

That's what he had said to Yuusei... What he hadn't expected was for their duel to end that way. Yuusei had no idea but Jack knew, now he knew, that the dark-haired and tanned young man had come to him... and won him. It was impossible... Jack had promised to himself to forget all about his previous life in the isolated island of Satellite. What did King have to do with his past as he had all the glory and fame to lighten his future?

And now, a very different kind of future had opened both for Jack and Yuusei, the bearers of two different Signer marks. Not only had a part - a very big, important, irreplaceable part of Jack's past come to haunt him, _ruin him_, now Jack was forced to accept this new, still unclear path.

"...Am I the clown after all...?"

* * *

Yuusei hardly heard the loud snoring of Yanagi's over his deep thoughts. Thanks to the old man, he knew that the mark on his arm was the doing of the shrieking creature that had appeared right above the stadium which had indeed been a dragon, a god of the legend of Signers. What it exactly meant, of that neither of them had no idea, but Yuusei was sure it meant something bigger, deeper. Apparently there were other people who were aware of this legend and these marks but, as it had already disappeared from his arm, they had had no other choices but to keep him a prisoner for the time being. It didn't help Yuusei at all, he needed answers.

...was Jack thinking of all this, too? As Yuusei lied on his bed, he raised his other arm up to look at it. The Signer mark - his own and the one which had glowed in Jack's arm... Yuusei could feel a tingling sensation on his right arm, all the while a stinging feeling burned the skin under his fresh criminal mark on his cheek.

It seemed like it was all according to some unknown plan for them to meet face to face again. Yuusei had gotten Jack back into his life, his conjecture of his future had become reality.

Another question: _what will happen next?_

* * *

I really don't want this story to become a review or a recap of the series but I've got a feeling that I can't skip a few certain points of the series, even if they aren't so romantic or don't have any potential to be turned into romantic scenes (ROMANCE EVERYWHERE MWAHAHAHAHAcoughcoughHAHAHAHA). Ah well... Should I have added that masturbation scene somewhere after all? X'''D (Also, I'm taking a bit of 'writer's freedom' with all the dialogue and such, I try to follow the Japanese version as well as I can but my Japanese skills are sadly limited.)

I might have mentioned about this somewhere a few times but I absolutely love all the symbolism in 5D's. I find it strangely fitting for Jack to have that as his first name because, really, he IS the King, he deserves and enjoys having the title, yet he still somehow is lower to Yuusei in a sense - or then perfectly equal to him, I don't know... Also, has anyone else noticed how fitting their Signer marks are? Yuusei has the head, as he is the genius and the "head" of the series, while Jack has the mark of wing, as he reaches for the sky, for ultimate prices. _Ffffffff-_ I have been a fan of 5D's for about 5 years now and I haven't gotten tired of it. (I love Yugioh and all the series in general but 5D's is my ultimate favourite o/o)

Ghahh, fangirling again...! I try to write more as soon as possible but, believe it or not, I'm studying comic art and animation and it takes my entire time and energy... (Also tumblr ahem)


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